<h2>Name</h2>
<p>
The Surah takes its name from the word <em>al-ghishiyah</em> in the first verse.
</p>
<h2>Period of Revelation</h2>
<p>
The whole subject matter of the Surah indicates that this too is one of
the earliest Surahs to be revealed; but this was the period when the
Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) had started preaching his message
publicly, and the people of Makkah were hearing it and ignoring it
carelessly and thoughtlessly.
</p>
<h2>Theme and Subject Matter</h2>
<p>
To understand the subject matter well one should keep in view the fact
that in the initial stage the preaching of the Holy Prophet (upon whom
be peace) mostly centered around two points which he wanted to instil
in the people's minds: <em>Tauhid</em> and the Hereafter: and the people of
Makkah were repudiating both. Let us now consider the subject matter
and the style of this Surah. 
</p>
<p>
At the outset, in order to arouse the
people from their heedlessness, they have been plainly asked:"Do you
have any knowledge of the time when an overwhelming calamity will
descend?" Immediately after this details of the impending calamity are
given as to how the people will be divided into two separate groups
and will meet separate ends. One group of the people will go to Hell
and they will suffer punishment; the second group will go to the
sublime Paradise and will be provided with, blessings. 
</p>
<p>
After thus
arousing the people the theme suddenly changes and the question is
asked: Do not these people, who frown and scorn the teaching of
<em>Tauhid</em> and the news of the Hereafter being given by the Qur'an, observe
the common things which they experience daily in their lives?Do they
never consider how the camels, on whom their whole life activity in
the Arabian desert depends, came into being, endowed precisely with
the same characteristics as were required for the beast needed in
their desert life? When they go on their journeys, they see the sky,
the mountains, or the earth. Let them ponder over these three
phenomena and consider as to how the sky was stretched above them, how
the mountains were erected and how the earth was spread beneath them?
Has all this come about without the skill and craftsmanship of an All-
Powerful, All Wise Designer? If they acknowledge that a Creator has
created all this with great wisdom and power and that no one else is
an associate with Him in their creation, why then do they refuse to
accept Him alone as their Lord and Sustainer? And if they acknowledge
that that God had the power to create all this, then on what rational
ground do they hesitate to acknowledge that that God also has the
power to bring about Resurrection, to recreate man, and to make Hell
and Heaven? 
</p>
<p>
After making the truth plain by this concise and rational
argument, the address turns from the disbelievers to the Holy Prophet
(upon whom be peace) and he is told: "If these people do not
acknowledge the truth, they may not; you have not been empowered to
act with authority over them, so that you should coerce them into
believing: your only task is to exhort, so exhort them. Ultimately
they have to return to Us; then We shall call them to full account and
shall inflict a heavy punishment on those who do not believe."
</p>

